Recently, I was reminded of a remark that my best friend's father made one day when we were swooning over some guy. Mr. Bubba said,"There's a difference between a real man and a guy in a pair of pants!" Of course, being two teenage girls, we laughed at him and never missed a beat in... Continue Reading →
I really am more of a dog person, but when we lived in faculty housing in California, only cats were allowed. I was enduring chemotherapy for colon cancer, and a friend advised Douglas and me that having a pet would help reduce my stress levels, so we decided to follow their advice and get a... Continue Reading →
I love being around my grandchildren, for children are still allowed to react to the nonsense in life, and it is such fun listening to them relate their experiences. I admit that sometimes I don't fully know what they are talking about, especially when they are telling a funny story, because they are laughing and... Continue Reading →
Yesterday, I wrote a text to my children and grandchildren to let them know that Douglas and I are planning a trip. To save time, I created a group text. I just did not want to send 16 or more texts. But, what occurred was eye-opening to me. As people started to respond to the... Continue Reading →
One of the elements of my job as a Sociology professor that I miss is research, or systematic investigations of social behavior. I have always had questions, and my mother once told me that I was born in the right times, for some of my questions would have in earlier decades have gotten me publicly... Continue Reading →
Joanie had a hate/love relationship with school. She loved learning addiction, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Her beloved mathematics were her toys, puzzles to be solved, and in the solving, what joy! She enjoyed winning the spelling contests, being the last one standing in the front of the class, and savoring the  knowledge that she would... Continue Reading →
As I watched through my front window, I marveled as butterflies seemed to play among themselves, flitting from one flower to the next in our front yard. I thought what beauty they bring to our hearts, for few people do not find joy in the beautiful butterflies in all of their colorful majesty. Reading the... Continue Reading →
I fell in love with football when I was about 11 years old, and one of my earliest dreams was to play pro football with the big boys. I did not realize at the time that girls were not allowed to play the game. I had a beloved male cousin who played for the local... Continue Reading →
My grandson leaves Tuesday for six days in Croatia, three days in London, one day in Ibiza (don't even know where that is!) and three days on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, I think. He sent me a text on Friday asking if he should go to the Amalfi Coast or Cannes. I told him... Continue Reading →
I was serenely preaching on Wednesday night for the First Wednesday program at church. I believed from the number of pages of my sermon that I would speak for 30-35 minutes. But when I looked out and Douglas appeared to have a borborygmus tummy, I wondered what was wrong with him, but I kept preaching.... Continue Reading →
Help from Heaven 